Sakura Spring
by EK
Summary: now complete -Future arc,with relevant spoilers.canon.- I-pin is assigned,with pay,to care for an injured Vongola guardian. The one who rattles her brain,the one who refuses all help.
1. April 20

Disclaimers: none of these people are mine.

This story was originally published as entries in my blog. They are now compiled here. Newer chapters will first be in the blog, then here after some time. I hope you like, and thank you for reading.

* * *

April 20

I cannot believe Tsuna-nii is paying me to do this, to just sit.

He said everybody was busy, even Lambo. Tsuna-nii didn't want to involve me. I was not directly Vongola. Tsuna-nii thinks he's being nice to me that way. But I'm part of his family, always been, since I came, and I want to help.

He tells me I can help by keeping an eye on Hibari-san. Just sit here by the hour and keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't leave the hospital, make sure he doesn't do anything weird.

I'm being paid more than my noodle-delivery job, just to sit.

He can't do anything weird right now, though. Too injured to do much of anything but sleep.

I didn't like it that I wasn't there. At least I could've helped somewhat. I've kept up training. My master would be proud.

He faced an ambush attack by the White Spell alone. Tsuna-nii wouldn't have known, but Hibird kept circling an alley and the independent research team sounded an alarm.

That's where I come in. While he's healing, Tsuna-nii would get daily reports from me, whether Hibari-san wants it or not. If he objects, at least I could keep up a suitable defense (something Tsuna-nii admits even he cannot do).

...

He woke up and stared at me.

He looks so much like the master does in all the pictures. It makes my heart beat so terribly fast, it makes my forehead sweat, it makes my hands shake. Ten years of seeing him has not made the sensation any less. It has even made it worse.

It took all my composure to explain why I was there.

He just nodded. He pointed to the window.

The yellow bird was at the window. I opened it and let Hibird hop onto my finger. I brought the bird over to him. Hibird hopped from my finger to his and chirped happily. He listened to the bird chirp and chirp without saying a word.

I asked if he needed anything, but he shook his head. He gave the bird back to me before he went to sleep again.

I must have done something right. He did not glare at me, or motion for me to get lost. I've heard stories of him glaring at people, or hitting people, no matter his condition. He just looked at me.

The master looked at me like that as he told me good night, when I was much younger. I wish the master was here. I miss him. Every time I look at Hibari-san, I miss him. I wish things were different, I really do.

He looks so peaceful like that, sleeping. You wouldn't guess he was the silent terror of a mafia branch, if you saw him asleep. I wonder what he worries about, what makes him dream. The mask he wears during the day disappears, and I see that he has much on his mind. They make him frown more than he already does when his eyes are open.

Somehow, I should like to know. I would like to help him, even a little. If I could at least do that for Tsuna-nii, for the family. It would be wonderful.

I guess it won't be so bad being here with him.

At least I don't have to run around delivering noodles.

* * *

Thank you for reading. More in the next chapter.


	2. April 21

Thank you for coming back to read more. They are still not mine, of course.

* * *

April 21

Kusakabe-san let me go home for a while, to take a shower and get a few things.

This was quite a short-notice thing, after all. I came immediately from the ramen shop, with Tsuna-nii. He dealt with my manager, then talked to the hospital people. So polite to everyone, but no one could refuse anything he asked. He was so incredible.

I packed a small bag with clothes and other things I would need. I didn't have much to pack, anyway. I always lived by using only what I needed, not wasting or wanting more, as my master taught me. Also I did not want to impose on Tsuna-nii's kindness.

I found my tin of jasmine tea, and a tea set I saved for visitors that never came. Thankfully the tea set had jasmine flowers as their design. I heard that Hibari-san hated cherry trees, especially cherry blossoms in spring. I packed them in a box.

...

Always be polite to those of higher rank. I add: always be polite to someone who looks like the master. I bowed. "I have returned, Hibari-san, Kusakabe-san."

"That was really quick," Kusakabe-san said. "Be a girl and take a good long relaxing bath, I-pin-san."

"My duty is here, although I thank you for your consideration." I was still bowed.

We both looked at Hibari-san, but he hmphed and looked away. I had propped the bed up to a sitting position. He still fully lay on it, still pale.

"Well, chairman, if you have nothing else to tell me, I guess I'll be going?" Kusakabe-san stood up from the only chair and offered it to me.

"Nothing. You can go."

But I stood by the table at the foot of the bed, blocking his way. I showed Hibari-san the tea set box. "I brought some tea with me."

It was Hibari-san who asked, "What kind?"

"Jasmine. From the mainland. My master's favorite."

He looked at me with penetrating eyes. He looked at the tea set box. He looked at Kusakabe-san. He looked out the window. He looked at me again.

"Kusakabe. Stay for tea," he said. He still frowned.

"Sure, chairman," Kusakabe-san smiled, then also smiled at me. "I'll get the hot water for you, I-pin-san. Go unpack your tea set."

I moved the table toward him. I placed the cups and the pot over the table. He watched me without saying a word. It felt like the master was inspecting my tea ceremony. It felt like I was doing something special for my master. I was actually doing something special for Hibari-san. The person I had always admired from afar for his perfect skills. It increased my awareness of all my movements, and of his light breathing just over my hands and arms.

I placed the leaves into the pot as Kusakabe-san returned with the hot water.

He closed his eyes as he breathed in the scent of the jasmine. He nodded slightly. He observed as I poured the tea into the cups, and presented one to him.

He sipped. Then he turned to me, with a smile I had never seen before.

"Good tea."

I placed the cup on the table, so I would not drop it. My hands shook so much, even when I hid them behind my back.

..................................

Tsuna-nii,

I hope you find time to relax today. I know you have all been so busy, with all the attacks around town. Just call if you need me, please promise that.

He's awake longer today. He's still in pain, I think, because he has not made efforts to get out of bed. I know you warned me about that, but he has not tried it. He's trying not to complain.

We had tea today. He took it rather well.

Give my regards to my favorite playmate. I hope he's not giving you trouble.

………………………………………

The evening was spent in silence. Even dinner (just soup and water, but he did not complain) was a silent affair.

It was so different from dinners at Tsuna-nii's house. Everyone talked about anything and everything. There were friends over all the time. It was also different from my dinners at the apartment, all alone. The quiet was unbearable, especially to me, so used to Lambo.

I now understood what companionable silence meant. He did not want to be disturbed. I did not want to disturb him. He did not get rid of me. I did not want to do anything that would make him want to. His presence made me feel secure, somehow, even in his weakened state. My presence allowed him to rest without concerns, I hoped.

I showed him the book I was reading, a small book, the principles for living at peace. In case he was interested in borrowing it, since we had no newspapers or magazines. He shook his head slowly. I'll remember to get a book of his from the shrine when I go home to change.

He watched the moon rise in the sky as he lay there. I watched with him.

I did not say anything. I did not even know what to say, what to talk to him about. I was still getting used to having him so near me, for so many hours. So I watched the moon, quietly thanking the fates for the chance to be with him, quietly praying that he would not be angry at me, quietly hoping to be of service to him somehow.

I wondered if the master would approve of this, of these thoughts running in my head. Surely I'm just honoring his memory, by continuing to admire his face in this man? What am I saying?

I must really clear these thoughts, I must not be distracted. I am a martial artist. Tsuna-nii needs me to be focused, for who knows what might happen at any moment?

I need to focus on him, I need to concentrate on him. I should not, but I should.

These thoughts are so confusing, really.

"Go to sleep."

I sat up and looked at him, not sure of what I heard. "What is it, Hibari-san?"

He turned over, very slowly, very deliberately. As he finished the movement, he reached over his head and took one of his two pillows. He stretched out his arm, his hand holding the pillow.

I was supposed to take it?

He kept his eyes on me, and he kept his arm outstretched to me.

No mistake, then. I reached over and took the pillow from him. "Xie xie," I bowed.

He settled back onto the bed and closed his eyes. "Go to sleep."

The pillow had the clean scent of hospital disinfectant and the cool scent of his...was that aftershave or cologne? It was distinct but not overpowering. I could feel his warmth around it as well.

I wrapped my arms around it, savoring the scents.

I found myself drifting off to the land of dreams, where he and I sat on the shrine porch, watching the moon, drinking jasmine tea.

* * *

Thank you for still reading.


	3. April 22

Thank you very much for coming back. Not mine.

* * *

April 22

Sleeping like a cat is not one of my best skills, one that never needed practice while I lived at Tsuna-nii's house. Still, I was more or less aware of whenever a nurse came in and out, and when Hibari-san groaned in his sleep. It was a peaceful night, and I was grateful.

I became aware of both the sun warming my skin and of a presence approaching that morning. The chi was pleasant, even familiar, but it did not hurt to be ready. I sat up and reached for my weapons.

He still breathed gently. It will stay that way.

The door opened, and I saw Tsuna-nii.

I checked the chi once more, knowing that illusion-casters were in our group and in the enemy's ranks. But it was really and truly Tsuna-nii, that friendly familiar chi and that warm kind smile.

He gently closed the door behind him. "How is he?" he whispered.

I simply faced toward Hibari-san. Even his lips were pale on his already pale face, and he had a wince of pain lining it. Tsuna-nii and I both knew that if things were different, he would already be glaring at both of us for disturbing the peace so early in the morning.

"I know he will always be like this. Still, I wish he could've asked for backup," Tsuna-nii shook his head.

"Never." Hibari-san's eyes slowly fluttered open.

Tsuna-nii sighed and rubbed his head. "Hibari-san, you're not dealing with middle-schoolers. You can't do it all alone."

"Watch me."

I bowed to both of them. "Some tea? While you talk?"

"Thank you, I-pin-chan, but I just came to see how he's doing. Oh, and to give him this." He reached into his trenchcoat and took out an envelope thick with papers. I took the envelope from Tsuna-nii and placed them on Hibari-san's lap. "Some reading material while you are here. Now, for goodness' sake, just tell Kusakabe what you need done, and stop doing it all yourself."

"Speak for yourself, Sawada."

I looked up at Tsuna-nii. There were dark rings under his eyes, and he seemed to carry the weight of a thousand burdens. His hair was messier than usual. He chuckled. "You're right. The meeting lasted all night. There's still so much to do, to plan, to consider. But I can't tell them everything." He looked down at the floor. "Not even Gokudera-kun, and he trusts me so much..."

"Hm."

Tsuna-nii faced him again. "But don't concern yourself about that. Just get better. Our forces will handle any further attacks. Stay the week. We'll be fine."

"Only until tomorrow, Sawada. Then I go home."

"But, but, Hibari-san!"

"Tomorrow." But he grit his teeth as he tried to sit up in bed.

I placed a hand on his back, slowly weaved my arm through. I helped him the rest of the way. I felt the sweat soaking through the hospital gown from his back.

He glared at me, like a tiger. He snarled, too.

Still keeping my arm on his back, I offered a solution. "If it pleases Tsuna-nii, I think Hibari-san can keep resting at home, at the shrine. I'll deal with the housework and the cooking, no problem. Maman taught me well."

I turned to Hibari-san, asking his permission. But he kept snarling at me.

Tsuni-nii did not have to think long. "That's fine, I guess. Fresh air and being home will do him good."

The snarl slowly faded to a frown. "Hm."

"It's settled, then," Tsuna-nii smiled at us. "I'll see you tomorrow." He patted me on the shoulder and made his way to the door.

"Please rest well, Tsuna-nii," I begged as he opened the door.

"I'll try. You, too, Hibari-san."

Tsuna-nii was gone.

Hibari-san grit his teeth and groaned loudly as he held his abdomen. I eased him back onto the bed. As soon as his head reached the pillow he gasped and gasped for air. What little color that remained on his face drained away, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

"You should have made me prop the bed up, instead," I said.

"I am not weak," he gasped.

"I never said that." I placed the pillow he lent me back onto his head. "I just want to help."

"I did not ask for help."

"One need not ask for help to receive it." I showed him the tea canister. "Shall I?"

His breaths finally began to slow down and to even out. "Yes."

"Please wait a while." I took out the cups and the teapot.

…………………………….

There was another reason why he was so cranky.

The cherry blossoms began to bloom today.

It makes one wonder if he truly is Japanese, even if he is truly Asian. Cherry trees turning pink create warm sensations in the hearts of all who come from this region. But to him, and I have ten years of seeing him on and off to know, cherry trees turning pink make him irritable. No one dares to stay in front of him, or they will immediately suffer bodily pain.

"Curtain."

"What?"

"Curtain." He scowled at me.

I turned to the window. The window to our room gave us a clear view of the cherry trees turning pink. "Oh. Alright." I closed the curtains.

"Useless flowers." He tossed his head and faced away from the window.

"It's not their fault."

"Hm."

I heard the story a while back from Tsuna-nii. Cherry blossoms no longer incapacitated Hibari-san. Still, they made him so cranky that he was not at his best. He was like that for the weeks that they bloomed.

Just my fate that he got injured now.

As it were, he could not leave the bed, too. A blood transfusion was started, and he had to stay still for at least two hours for each bag. He needed two, so four hours.

"Just close your eyes, so you will not see them," I suggested with a smile.

"Shut up," he said. But he did close his eyes, and eventually drifted off to sleep.

I prayed that Lambo would not choose this time to suddenly appear.

It was odd. It was so peaceful here in the hospital, watching him sleep, watching him be annoyed at something so insignificant as cherry blossoms. Meanwhile, Tsuna-nii had so many problems, so many threats to consider. Surely Hibari-san was also on his mind. His being here with me was a weakness, an opening, on Tsuna-nii's side of the battle.

The calm worried me somewhat. It worried me that I completely enjoyed this calm. Watching him, so relaxed, so at peace.

Surely this was just a calm before a storm.

He woke up early in the afternoon.

"Do you want lunch?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Did anyone come?" he asked.

"Just nurses. You did not notice?"

"No. Thank you. Xie xie, yes?"

I felt my cheeks warm up considerably. "Ah? For what?"

"For being here."

I was sure my cheeks were very pink. "It is nothing."

"Give the envelope to Kusakabe when he comes. Tell him to bring it to the shrine, unopened. I will go through the papers there."

Somehow the orders got to me, but my brain could not truly process beyond the "Xie xie" that he said. He thanked me. He thanked me. Master, did you hear? He thanked me. "Alright. Will there be anything else?"

"No. Wake me for dinner." His eyes closed again.

I bowed from where I sat, as my hands shook on my lap and my heart beat faster than it ever did before.

I will never look at cherry blossoms the same way again.

* * *

Thanks for reading, as always. I hope you are still liking. Do review if you do like it.


	4. April 23

Thank you for still reading. I hope it's not getting boring. Not mine, as always.

* * *

April 23

I felt him stirring rather early that morning. I saw him holding the bed railings and pulling himself up. I scrambled to help him.

He swung at me with his left arm. I blocked with my own left arm.

"Mind your own business."

"I am employed to be of assistance to you, SIR."

"I do not need your assistance!" Yet he panted and gasped as he said this.

"Your stubbornness might kill you, Hibari-san!"

"What is it to you if it does?"

"Tsuna-nii will be sad. Kusakabe-san will be sad." I would be sad, too, but I did not see the point in telling him.

"Hm." He scowled and turned his head away.

"Please, Hibari-san."

He refused to look at me.

I withdrew my arm. He placed his hand back over the railing. I placed my hand on his back --have I mentioned how wonderful that back felt? Sinewy and tight-- as he pulled himself up to sitting again. I placed no pressure, no weight, just guided him as he moved up. The movement became smoother, until he finally stopped to catch his breath, seated in bed.

"Shall I place the pillows?"

"No."

I let him breathe in and out as I got a glass of water. He still did not look at me as I placed the glass on the table, as he took up the glass and finished the water in one long drink.

Then I remembered. Tomorrow was now here. This was the day he told Tsuna-nii would be his last at the hospital. He needed to prove it to Tsuna-nii, that he could be well enough to be sent home.

"Hibari-san, you're not being forced to..."

"I will not be useless."

"But you can't be useful at your current condition..."

"I am not..."

"I know that, Hibari-san. But it is not a weakness to admit that you are not at your full strength. You will better serve the cause once you are better able to face the enemy."

He sighed long and deeply.

But now that he was seated, he did not seem to be uncomfortable. He did not groan in pain or breathe heavily. I told him so.

The straight line of his lips angled ever so slightly at the edges.

"Just tell me, and I will prop up the pillows. Breakfast?"

"Yes."

"You really will be able to go home after today, I think."

"Hm." The slight angle at the edges of his lips stayed.

Breakfast, as with all the meals, was silent, as he sipped the tea I set out for him, and he slowly finished the meal given to him. I was perfectly satisfied watching him make those graceful movements. Everything he seemed to do had a grace to it. The way he held up the soup bowl in one smooth gesture. The way the chopsticks rose in the air to meet his mouth in one fluid motion. They were beautiful. So was he.

"I-pin."

I almost dropped my teacup. "Y-y-yes?"

"Prop up the bed." He was done with breakfast.

"Oh. Alright." I walked up to the foot of the bed and pressed the button.

He leaned back onto the bed with relief. He turned his head to face me, still pale but with more color to his cheeks.

"Xie xie."

"Na li de hua." I smiled.

Oh, master, he looks so much like himself, I could explode again.

…………………………………

Tsuna-nii must have done some contacting. Doctors and nurses came in and out of the room, checking on Hibari-san and his wounds. All of them tried to talk him out of leaving the hospital, but he could not be dissuaded. They were apprehensive, but not fearful, and they all agreed to sign the necessary papers.

Since there were people in and out, I was on the alert the whole day. But the hospital staff were more afraid of him than he was of them. The general jitteriness of all the staff remained unchanged throughout the day.

Hibari-san remained seated in bed the whole morning to the early afternoon. He did not complain, and he did not seem to be in much pain, but as the day wore on he began to look tired. But he refused any help.

Until the little yellow bird flew through the window, flapping its wings desperately, chirping madly. It kept chirping and chirping as it perched on his shoulder.

He scowled. His eyes narrowed. "Tonfa."

"WHAT!"

"Now." He began reaching for them himself.

"But!" I opened the drawer and got them out. They were heavier than I expected, solid steel.

With one quick movement he took them from me and armed.

I had no idea what was going on, but his battle chi could not be ignored. Neither could the terrible chi just past the window. I placed myself in front of his bed in my own battle stance.

"Get behind."

"No! You're...you're..."

"You fight bare-handed. Get behind."

He scooted to the edge of the bed, and stood. He thrust out his left arm and covered me with it, the tonfa facing the window.

"Hibari-san!"

"Get behind."

Suddenly a series of shots pinged and tinged as they hit the tonfa. Ting-ting-ping-ting-ping. He pulled us both down to the floor as more shots hit the bed, the railings, the window.

I tried to stand up and throw a gyoza bomb out, but he pulled me down again. More shots were fired. A short pause, then many more.

"Tell Sawada not to come," he ordered as the shots rang out. "Kusakabe should be here shortly. We leave tonight."

I nodded and took out my phone, dialing the emergency number. "Hayato-nii, we were attacked. Tsuna-nii, he shouldn't come." I ended the call. More shots rang out. We stayed crouched on the floor.

Finally, they ended.

I sighed with relief as Hibird continued to chirp, and the chirping was the only sound we heard. For safety's sake we remained on the floor, in case they were waiting for us.

"Call Kusakabe. Code 156. Tell him to meet us at the door with a wheelchair. He should not go in."

I did as he said.

He began to creep through the floor. The steel tonfa clanged as he dragged them with him. I followed after him, bombs at the ready, constantly looking behind us.

The progress was halting. He panted with each movement. I was about to run up and open the door but he growled, "Stay down."

We reached the door on our arms and legs. I pulled him to sit and lean on the wall. There were no bloodstains, thankfully. He gasped for air. Still, he placed an arm in front of me, tonfa side out.

"Tell Kusakabe," he took two deep breaths, "For now, he's in charge."

The tonfa clanged as his full weight dropped on me.

………………………………..

I breathed in and out, in and out, trying to calm myself. Hibari-san was just asleep, deeply asleep, exhausted from the effort he just made. It was not worse than that. He was not unconscious, no, no. He had not fainted. Just went to sleep, yes?

The door opened slightly, and I looked up at Kusakabe-san. "Hey, little lady. Shall we go?"

The tonfa were on the floor. Hibari-san had dropped them. I picked them up. "Go where?"

"Home." He took up Hibari-san in his large arms, quickly placing him in the wheelchair he brought along. He draped a large fisherman's cap over Hibari-san's head, which hid his closed eyes. "Follow me, my brave young lady."

"But...but...my tea set..."

Kusakabe-san pushed the wheelchair forward at a brisk pace. "Someone will get it later." I jogged to match up to his speed. The tonfa were rather heavy, too.

He sped to a cargo elevator, and we rode it down to the parking lot. Kusakabe-san tried to look calm, and so did I, but my hands were sweating. I bit my lips to keep my teeth from chattering. Our cargo always threatened to slide off the wheelchair. Kusakabe just kept a firm grip on the clothes as he tapped his fingers, waiting for the elevator doors to open.

The elevator opened at the second basement level. Kusakabe-san walked even faster, the wheelchair ahead of it. I ran to keep up.

He stopped at a car I had seen before at the shrine, quickly opening the front passenger door. "Sorry, chairman," he said as he lifted Hibari-san off the wheelchair onto the passenger seat.

Kusakabe-san packed the wheelchair in the trunk and opened the back passenger door. "Come on, little lady."

He got in himself, started the car, and quickly headed for the exit.

In all this time, Hibari-san did not move, did not say anything, just kept breathing. No, no, no, nothing was wrong with him, nothing, nothing.

"Did you get a look at who shot at you?" Kusakabe-san asked, but I said no.

"Hibird just came chirping...HIBIRD! What about Hibird?"

"He'll find his way home, don't worry about it, he always does." He looked sadly at Hibari-san for a moment. "The chairman trained him well, after all."

I sighed with relief, then looked again at Hibari-san and sighed. I didn't get to protect him at all. He protected me.

"He's fine, I've seen him like this before, I-pin-chan. Overworked himself again, that's all." He chuckled. "I know he's quite grumpy, but he never leaves anything undone, and he never leaves his people behind. Of course he whacks at them later, but that's part of who he is. Must be sad that I'm so used to it, don't you think?"

I shook my head. "Not at all, Kusakabe-san."

It was like that with me, too. I knew people did not like Hibari-san. But all I could feel was the strong heart inside him. No matter what anyone else thought, I knew he was a good man.

We took a back road to the shrine. Kusakabe-san parked the car in the trees. He slung him on a shoulder and walked in the darkness with sure footing. I had been to the shrine many times, but I was not familiar with the secret entrances the independent research group used, so I followed Kusakabe-san closely.

But we did not go through a secret entrance at all, just went through the back door, where the shrine was a house, Hibari-san's house. All the doors were sliding wooden panels, without locks.

Kusakabe-san made his way past the receiving area into the bedroom. As he switched the electric lights on I saw a plain, undecorated room with drab cabinets to one side and a solitary table leaned on a wall.

I made my way to the futon cabinet, and pulled out the futon. Soon Hibari-san was on it, still pale, with tumbled hair, still sleeping more soundly than I wanted.

"Please, Kusakabe-san, could I stay here?" I asked.

Kusakabe-san thought for a while. "He might hit you, on instinct, if he finds out."

"I can block on instinct, too," I smiled at him.

"Suit yourself, little lady," Kusakabe-san shrugged. "Don't say I didn't warn you. Wait here, I'll go get you a futon."

I bowed to the tatami mat. "Thank you very much."

Kusakabe-san left me in the bedroom with him.

He breathed slowly and peacefully. Just asleep, just asleep, I kept telling myself.

I felt under the blanket for his hand. I held it in both of mine.

I was not sure why I did it. It just felt wonderful to hold it. Knowing he was with me. That he did all that, with this hand, for me.

* * *

Xie-xie is "Thank you," while Na li de hua is "You're welcome". I just got it off a phrasebook, and I don't have a shred of Chinese blood in me, so forgive my inconsistencies.


	5. April 24

This chapter has some mention of new Arcobaleno, so if you're too updated…GET UPDATED! This Arcobaleno is adorable and one of my new favorites. Anyway. Not mine. Hope you like.

…………………………………

April 24

I woke up rather late. The sun was up rather high. Hibird and his relatives sang by the window.

I found a futon under me and a blanket on my back. Something warm and lovely was beside me. Something warm was in my hands. I woke up just enough to look at them.

I was still holding his hand!

"Let go already."

I suddenly let go and backed away, suddenly fully awake.

I looked at the futon I had slept on. It was placed just beside his! And he was glaring at me! I had fallen asleep beside him!

"I, I, I, I, I...my greatest and sincerest apologies, Hibari-san!" I knelt and bowed and bowed and bowed.

"I .CROWDED."

"Yes, Hibari-san, I will remember, I will remember," I bowed and bowed again.

"Never let it happen again."

I promised, as I went off to make breakfast in a hurry.

…………………………………..

I nervously chopped onions and carrots, nervously boiled the beef, even more nervously prepared the noodles. It was certain to happen, certain. He would go on a rampage. He would fume and attack the nearest target. The nearest targets were myself and Kusakabe-san. So I hurried the beef ramen, to give him no reason to toss away breakfast.

I returned to the bedroom, carrying the tray with ramen and tea from the kitchen. I placed the tray on the table, in front of him.

He was still pale, his hair smoothed down but still tousled from bed, his lips in a deep frown. He had slipped on a yukata Kusakabe-san had placed beside him, and his arms were folded over what little I saw of his chest.

He did not rampage?

I kneeled and bowed to the floor. "Your breakfast. I shall leave you now, just call if you need anything."

"Hm." It was all he said.

I returned to the kitchen, where I had my own breakfast with Kusakabe-san.

"I didn't want to wake you, so I left you where you were," Kusakabe-san explained as he sipped tea. "I know you're tired, too."

"I'm really sorry I did not feel your presence last night, I'm really sorry. I'm not being really helpful to him, I'm sorry..."

"You haven't been hurt yet, right? I'd call that an achievement," Kusakabe-san chuckled. "You're doing fine."

Just then we both heard a loud crash from the reception area. We both stood and ran.

Hibari-san was sprawled face down on the floor, the tonfa beside him.

He elbowed and punched Kusakabe-san as he reached out to help. He swiped at me as I also came up to him.

"Leave. me. alone." He went on his hands and knees and slowly lifted himself off the floor.

"We can't, and you know that, Hibari-san," I said, coming closer again as he tottered.

But he snarled and swiped at me again, losing his footing and falling again.

"Respectfully, Hibari-san, but you need to improve your balance." I presented a hand.

He glared at me and slowly rose to standing once more.

"Respectfully, you need to focus on that, while you are getting your strength back," I bowed to him.

"Get out. Both of you."

We sighed and exited.

...

I had been sitting around, just looking at Hibari-san, for several days now, only standing to serve him tea. My body missed the exercise. I got into my everyday clothes and a comfortable pair of shoes. I headed for the garden, and began my daily routine.

Feet together, then feet slightly apart. I breathed deeply in and out, my arms slowly rising up and going down as I breathed. I closed my eyes and remembered my master. I recalled the flowing motions of my arms, my legs, my hands, my feet as I watched him, as I copied him.

Let the wind flow through you, let the winds pass through your soul, and beyond you. You do not control where the wind will flow, you guide it to go your way.

I stretched out my arms as my feet led the way. I brought out my feet to lead the winds farther. I brought back my body to near the center, and brought back the wind with me. I raised my feet to my head, and balanced myself, the tree in the wind.

My master had taught me all 108 movements. I did not do them all most of the time, just groups of them every day, but I felt like I needed to do them all today.

It was a long conversation with my master, after all.

I cannot control him, master. I do not want to.

You do not have to. You are simply the breeze sent to cool him, the wind to guide his path.

But what do I do?

Be the wind to guide his path.

How?

Just allow yourself to be guided. Soon enough he will let you guide.

I finished all the movements. I brought my feet together, took one last long breath, and thanked my master for his advice. I still miss him. I hope the winds have been kind to him.

I opened my eyes and found Hibari-san seated at the porch. I bowed to him.

He had a slight smile on his face. I lowered my eyes and felt the warmth of my cheeks.

"Teach me."

"Tai chi chuan?"

He nodded. "For balance."

I bowed again and tried to keep from blushing any deeper. "It will be my pleasure."

Oh, master, show me how to be the wind to the cloud.

…………………………………….

We talked at the far end of the shrine, far, far away. Hibari-san had gone into the house for a nap. So we talked far away, where the trees could muffle his normally loud voice from reaching the house.

He was annoying, but he will always be my best friend.

"How OLD is he, I-pin?" he asked. "Thirty?"

I looked at my friend from an angle. "Maybe?"

He slammed a palm onto his forehead. "I've known you for ten years. I still don't know what you see in the guy you go all 'kaboom' for."

"He's...well...he's a good man," I smiled shyly at him.

He came up closer. He placed a hand on the tree trunk and towered over me. His curly locks dropped over his quite chiseled, indeed really handsome, Italian face. If I didn't know him so well, knew how he hid trinkets in his hair when he was five, I might have melted for him, too, like all the girls in town. I could smell the cologne permeating his cow-print shirt, strong and intoxicating.

"Can't you forget that stiffy for once?" he crooned. "You're young and you're pretty. Why don't we go out some time?"

"For goodness' sake! Don't try your tricks on ME!" I whacked him in the air. "I'm your best friend, not one of your headless, mindless admirers!" I laughed, though. It was one drawback to being around Hibari-san so much: he liked quiet, so I haven't had a good laugh in a while.

"Now, that's just too much, I-pin! Give the girls some credit! Don't make me cry!"

"You're too old now to cry."

He suddenly stopped chiding. He frowned. He pocketed his hands and turned his back to me.

"I-pin. I'm not joking. Can I take you out somewhere?"

"Out where?"

"Anywhere you like." His back was still to me, so it was his curly black hair I could see. "My tab. Well, Tsuna's, but you get the point."

I've seen him work his considerable charms on other girls in school. This way he talked now, this was not how he talked to them. It made me nervous.

"As your best friend, of course," I reminded him.

"I don't care how you look at it," he said.

"But...but you see, Tsuna-nii, he made me stay with..."

"I'll tell Tsuna to get you off this job, get you back to the ramen shop!"

"Please don't do that."

"Actually, I don't have to, when I think about it. I just need to tell Tsuna you deserve a day off. We can go then."

I looked at the ground. "I'll just keep worrying while I'm gone."

He sighed a long sigh.

He finally faced me. "You're impossible," he said with a sad smile.

"Sorry."

"If I blasted my older self here to you, would I have a better chance?"

I smiled, but I shook my head. "You'll always be my best friend."

"But that's all I will ever be. Stupid kaboom girl." He waved to me as he walked away.

"Stupid cow," I waved to him as well.

I knew I did the right thing...but why did it hurt my heart so much?

………………………………

I came up to the bedroom and bowed to him from the door. "Dinner is served."

"Hm."

I thought he would tell me to serve it at the bedroom, like that morning, him being rather weak still. Instead, he collected the papers he had on the table, and slowly stood up. He followed me to the kitchen.

It was just the two of us that night. Kusakabe had gone home. The air was heavy with the scent of cherry blossoms, a fresh pink scent that wafted through the kitchen. It reminded me of evenings in a faraway kitchen, sitting and drinking jasmine tea with my master. It made him hold his forehead at the temples and groan through dinner.

The shrine had several cherry trees. There were rumors that Hibari-san had proposed having them chopped down, but because it was a shrine and because Kusakabe-san had convinced him not to, the cherry trees stayed on to torment him for a few weeks each year.

"Will you be alright, Hibari-san?" I asked.

He did not reply. He frowned at his miso.

I thought it best not to ask again, and ate my rice.

We ate in silence.

I waited for him to finish his own meal before I cleaned up, admiring his grace as he moved the chopsticks. Finally those chopsticks were brought together and placed over his rice bowl.

His small eyes bored into me. "I-pin."

The tone was icy, serious. "Y-Yes?"

"You are not forced to stay here."

I made an effort to smile. "Oh, it's perfectly alright, Hibari-san! Tsuna-nii said..."

"I could suspend the contract."

I sighed. He was right. I only needed to stay as long as I was needed. If he no longer needed me, that was that.

"You're better off with that boy."

Did he hear us, me and Lambo, this afternoon? How much of the conversation reached the house? Did he...did he know what I chose?

I suddenly remembered how sad my best friend looked, before he left. But I knew I made the right choice. I knew, I knew. It hurt, but I knew.

I could not explain it, even to myself. I just knew that I wanted to stay with him, be with him, be of assistance to him. I was not sure how or why. I just knew that. I wanted to feel his strength. I wanted to help through the weakness.

Master, why am I so selfish?

And yet, master, he who looks too much like you, he needs me, he needs me. I'd like to think so, but maybe it's just me. I don't know.

But I bowed my head to him. "I submit to whatever decision you will make, Hibari-san."

He took a long breath. "You are part of Sawada's emergency plans."

I did not know what he was talking about. What did he mean by emergency plans?

I looked up at Hibari-san. He looked at me, as well, thinking, deciding, contemplating.

"What plans?" I asked.

"Emergency plans. That is all you need to know."

"Alright." I did not press the issue.

"The plans require you to be with that boy."

Be with Lambo? A timeskip bazooka switch? But what about Hibari-san? He could not even walk at a brisk pace yet, much less fight unless he stood in one place. "Will the plans take effect soon?"

"Not yet."

I relaxed somewhat. At least I could stay with Hibari-san, while he was still weakened, yes?

"We can end this arrangement now. Or you can stay here. Which is it?"

My choice was sure. "I stay here. As long as necessary."

He was taken aback. I was too quick with that reply. He watched me for a while, before he spoke. "I will tell Sawada."

I rose to take up the dishes.

He spoke again as I reached over to get his rice bowl. "They are emergency plans. They may take effect at any time." He looked away, toward the cherry trees, then frowned.

I understood. I was used to the bazooka. I was ready for it. But Hibari-san could not be left, not yet. I did not want to, not yet.

"Until then, and until you tell me, I shall stay here," I promised.

The straight line of his lips curled at the ends. "Arigatou."

……………………………..

Thanks for still reading.


	6. April 25

More mention of that new Arcobaleno, so go know this new one as soon as you can if you haven't. Not mine. Thanks for reading.

* * *

April 25

I was not able to sleep well that night. His words worried me, that is true, but I also could not shake off the feeling that we were watched. I kept on alert the whole night, sometimes even walking off to his bedroom to see if he was alright. I peeked in a few times. He still slept in that exhausted way I saw in the hospital. Defenseless, if anything happened.

I woke up early and headed to the reception area. I pushed the table and the mats to a corner. The reception area created enough space for the routines.

I went through the eight basic steps, slowly, focusing on each movement, remembering how my master taught me. Hoping that focusing on those would help me concentrate on what was important.

But my concentration wavered, and I found myself completing the sixteen basic steps, then the twenty-eight. All in the efforts to calm myself down, to keep me from worrying more than I should.

I ended the steps, and found myself bowing to Hibari-san, wearing a judo practice uniform. He placed his hands together in front of him, and bowed to me.

My knees almost gave way. I felt like I floated on air as I placed my hands before me and bowed to him.

I assumed the first position, feet together, arms to the sides. He followed.

I bent my knees, slowly, flowing, followed by my hands before me. He imitated by squatting military-style with his arms thrusting forward. He frowned through it. I shook my head with a smile, trying not to giggle.

I returned to the first position, and repeated my movements, slowly, flowing, as my master taught me. He tried again, stiffly. Again I shook my head.

He growled.

I placed a hand in front of me. "I think you are missing the point, Hibari-san."

"Explain."

"Tai chi chuan is a soft martial art. Its focus is the balance of mind and soul. Strength in battle is not its focus."

"Then it is pointless."

"Not so. As the heart is balanced, so the ability to fight is balanced."

"Hm."

"Tsuni-nii says you meditate sometimes."

"So?"

I placed my feet together again. "Tai chi chuan is like meditation as your body is in motion. It requires the same focus of mind and soul."

"Ah."

"Shall we try again?"

He nodded.

I stayed standing for a long moment, just breathing in and out, focusing my mind and soul. If he did not seem to get the focus correctly, I could not seem to focus on anything except the man in front of me. Breathe in, breathe out. This man, is just a man. Who makes mistakes. Who gets injured. Breathe in and out. I will pass the wisdom of my master to him, and that is all there is to it. I have to do it right, or I will not help him. I will do this right.

Feet together. Feet apart. Hands in front as you breathe in, then breathe out. Slowly, flowing.

His movements were still awkward, but it started to smoothen, to flow.

Bring arm from one side, as scooping the wind, bring back to the front. Other arm. Bring arm from one side, taking the wind with you, bring back to the front. Form a ball of wind, and release it again before you.

He followed, slowly, stiffly, but with more grace.

I guided him through the individual parts of the third position. The right leg first, then the right arm, then the left leg steps to the side, and the arms follow, taking the breezes through the fingers. It took a few repetitions, stopping as his knees bent too far, or his shoulder position was too awkward.

His movements were still all too calculated, but they continued to smooth out, a little bit at a time, as water smooths out the rocks in a stream. He truly was a quick learner, memorizing the elements of the eight basic positions in that morning, when it would take other people a week or two. I know it took me three days not to fall over when I raised my leg for the sixth position.

The judo uniform drenched in sweat, and even his hair and forehead were soaked. But he did not ask for us to stop, and refused to stop when I asked him. Even as he lost balance in the sixth and seventh positions, he refused assistance, and stood up on his own.

It took us several hours. It was his first time, after all. But I guided him through the completed eight movements, slowly, flowing. I watched as he went through the movements, watched the signs of the stiff grace I had seen in several fights, that effortless economy of motion I admired in him.

He looked so much like my master, in all the pictures I had seen, in those training films I had watched. He looked so much like him.

I missed my master.

I missed him so much, so much. I missed him so much. He was gone, I did not know how or where or by whom. He was just gone. I missed him so.

I dropped to my knees, my hands covering my face. The tears wet my cheeks and my hands. I could not stop them from flowing. I could not stop.

I felt his hands on my shoulders, one each. But the feeling of a person, any person, any soul, beside me, overwhelmed me, and before I knew what I was doing, I wrapped my hands around his waist and cried into his uniform. All the tears I bravely kept away, they flowed out, all of them. I could not cry to Tsuna-nii, there were other people who had died as well. I could not cry to Lambo, he would not understand. I should not even cry to him, but I could no longer stop.

My master was gone, and there was no one else to cry to.

He did not do anything, and I did not expect him to. But he did not push me away, and for that I was grateful.

I let go, finally, as it finally sank in who he was, who I was crying to, crying my eyes out. I looked up at him, and saw him frowning. Not with menace, but he was frowning.

I quickly wiped away what tears were left, and bowed profusely. "I am sorry, I am sorry. It will not happen again. I'm so sorry."

He walked away and left the room.

………………………….

I could not face him after that. I was too embarrassed. All I could think about was how nice and warm he felt then. How secure I felt, with those large and heavy hands over me. How assuring it felt to finally cry to someone. But it was him, and it was really, really embarrassing.

I kept looking away. When I stole glances, he kept his eyes away from me as well, one hand over his forehead, groaning from a headache.

"Did something happen that I should know?" Kusakabe-san asked when he arrived.

"Uh...I...ah...somewhat," I said. I felt my cheeks redden.

He stared at his empty rice bowl. "Developments?"

"None, chairman."

"Sawada?"

"He will come tonight. He said nothing else."

"Hm." He took out a slip of paper and raised it. "Full inquiry."

Kusakabe-san took it and opened the piece of paper. "Chairman, but this is in another country!"

"Full inquiry."

"Can I send someone else, though?"

"Just get it done."

"Yes, sir." Kusakabe-san pocketed the paper and smiled at me. "Anything else, chairman?"

"Get out of my sight." He held his forehead again. "Damn cherry trees."

Kusakabe-san chuckled but obeyed.

Hibari-san stood and walked out of the kitchen, leaving the bowls for me to pick up.

I found Kusakabe-san on the side porch as I passed there to sweep. He watched the cherry blossoms as he looked at the slip of paper Hibari-san gave him.

"I-pin-chan? Can you sit for a while?" he said.

I held the broom in my hands as I sat a small distance from him.

"What do you know about this?" He showed me the piece of paper he received earlier.

I opened the slip of paper, and almost dropped it.

The paper contained the following words in Hibari-san's clipped, stiff handwriting:

Fon. Last known location: Hong Kong. To include mainland and other hotspots. Spare no expense.

"S-s-spare n-no expense!" I read it over and over. The independent research group had a considerable budget, if Hibari-san's trips from all points in Italy and all points in Japan were any indication.

"A preliminary search was already done for..." he looked around at the trees, "...for them, as requested by Sawada-san," Kusakabe-san said. He sighed. He took the paper from me. "He is asking me to do another, more extensive search."

My hands still shook. I bowed to him. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I am not worthy."

"Don't thank me, thank him." He grinned at me. "I don't know what you put in the miso or the tea, but you're getting to him."

"I am?"

We both looked toward the reception area, where Hibari-san was seated on the floor, meditating with the biggest frown I have ever seen on his face.

"Is that a good thing?" I asked, as my cheeks turned pink.

"It could go either way," Kusakabe-san chuckled.

……………………………………..

I went on the alert. I suddenly felt a different presence near the kitchen who was not Kusakabe-san. Part friendly, part strange. I armed my hands with gyoza-ken. Hibari-san did not move, but I saw his eyes dart about the room.

A figure stepped from the shadows and went into the kitchen. He smiled at us wearily.

"Tsuna-nii!" I almost dropped the bomb onto the floor.

"Hm." was all Hibari-san said as he relaxed.

"Sorry about that, I-pin," he rubbed his head. "I came from the base. I'll show you the entrance some time. How are you?" He looked at both of us.

Hibari-san tossed his head and did not reply. I bowed to Tsuna-nii. "We're alright, thank you."

"That's good." Tsuna-nii remained standing, as he leaned on the wall near the refrigerator. "Hibari-san, about the papers..."

Hibari-san looked at me. "Too many people involved. Too many things can go wrong."

"But we have no other choice." I walked up to Tsuna-nii and gave him some tea.

"The plan relies too heavily on one man," Hibari-san looked squarely at him. "Who could be killed, or could betray you."

"We have no other choice. There is no one else."

"A suicide mission."

"One that I am leaving in your hands," Tsuna-nii smiled.

"That is the final plan, then?"

"There are alternate strategies, but they are only variations on this plan," Tsuna-nii said. "Those alternatives will be the papers I will send you next."

"The loudmouth?"

"At the base. I told him I'll be coming here."

"Answer the question."

Tsuna-nii sighed again, a long drawn-out sigh. He did not answer.

Hibari-san stood up and walked to the door, turning his back on Tsuna-nii. "Goodnight, Sawada." He left the kitchen, growling.

I was left alone with Tsuna-nii. He sighed again. He let me lead him to a chair at the table. He suddenly looked so old, so distraught. I sat beside him.

"Don't ask me anything, I-pin, please."

"I won't," I promised.

"I don't want to do it to you, too. It's better you don't know anything."

"If that is what you feel is best, Tsuna-nii."

"Thank you for trusting me."

He leaned his head on his hand. Almost immediately his eyes began to droop. His whole upper body began to fall forward, I just caught him before he did.

"I can prepare a futon for you..." I said as I leaned him onto the chair.

"Not necessary, thank you. I'm tired, that's all," he said.

"You just need to rest, Tsuna-nii..."

"Yes, that's it. I'm tired." He ran his fingers through his hair and kept it there. "I'm sick and tired of this. I'm tired of lying. Tired of deceiving them. My best friends. I don't want to do it anymore. No more."

The last time I heard him like this, I was six, almost seven. He was whining to Reborn-san.

"But I can't. I cannot stop. Not now. It's all going so wrong. Our only chance, our last shot, but I can't depend on my best friends. That's why I'm leaving it to Hibari-san. He won't tell them until the time comes. I can't tell my own friends, I can't make them help me, dammit. I have to keep them alive, no matter what, no matter what happens to me. This is the only way. The only way."

I wrapped my arms around one of his arms, and leaned on his shoulder.

"Don't talk like you will leave us, Tsuna-nii. You will lead us all, and you will be the great leader you have been these past years."

"I'm not. I'm not."

"We all think you are."

"I know, dammit I know." He clenched the fist in the arm I held. "I'm not sure I have what it takes anymore. I don't know what will happen if they kill me, if they take me away. I don't know. I don't want anything to happen to any and all of you."

"Be at ease, Tsuna-nii, be at ease. Breathe in...then out...breathe in...then out."

Well, if it worked for my master, hopefully it will work for Tsuna-nii, too. I kept holding onto his arm and leaning on his shoulder, whispering the first thoughts before going into a state of meditation.

"Breathe in and out. Even if the world around you is not at peace, you could be at peace in the center of your soul, in the center of your heart. Breathe in and out."

The words of my master kept flowing through me, as the arm I held began to relax and to calm. Tsuna-nii's breaths started to slow.

"Know that what feels to be right, no matter how difficult, is probably the right. Accept that the world cannot always be changed, but you can change how the world sees you."

He leaned his head on me, as his breathing evened.

"Release all the tension of the world around you, and center on the peace within you. Breathe in and out."

I felt the tension in his back loosen, as he said, "Thank you."

The arm dropped. I heard the even breathing of sleep just over me.

"Rest well, Tsuna-nii."

Rest well. We all believe in you.

* * *

Wow. This was long. Thanks for reading. The next chapters is short, though.


	7. April 26 and 27

Two days are included in this chapter. Just so you know. As always, not mine, and thanks for reading.

* * *

April 26

Tsuna-nii left in the middle of the night. I don't remember much, I was sleepier and more tired than I wanted to be. But I think I heard Hayato-nii shouting, Hibari-san's tonfa clanging together, Tsuna-nii saying goodnight, and me sleepwalking to the bedroom beside Hibari-san's.

The master filled my dreams. Childhood memories--what am I saying, technically I'm still a child--and more recent memories. He hugged me as I said goodbye to him...that last time. So warm, so gentle.

He faded to be replaced by my most recent memories of he who slept beyond the wooden wall. How he tried to say thank you. How he tried to follow my steps. How warm he felt as he let me weep.

I woke up really slowly that morning, relishing the sun on my cheeks, still enjoying the warmth of the blanket and the futon. I did not want to wake up, to leave my wonderful dreams.

As I drowsily opened my eyes, I found Hibari-san just slightly beyond my arm's reach, seated crosslegged, wearing a dark kimono, Hibird on his shoulder, reading papers in his hands.

I was probably still asleep, because I closed my eyes and he was still there, exactly the same. I dreamed about him all over again. I knew it was quite a while that I was dreaming about him. A long while. A long wonderful while.

Yet when I opened my eyes again, he was still there, seated on the floor and reading papers in his hands, the yellow bird chirping on his shoulder.

I rubbed my eyes, blinked them once, twice, thrice. I rubbed my eyes again. He was really there.

He was really there.

I suddenly sat up in bed and smoothed down my hair.

"G-good morning. How-how-how long..."

"Not long," he said, his eyes still on the papers.

That was an obvious lie.

"You should have just woken me up, Hibari-san..."

"No matter." He gathered his papers. "Get dressed. Come with me." He stood up and walked to the door.

Huh? "What about your breakfast?"

"Leftovers." He walked out of the room.

It was the fastest dressing and braiding I had ever done in my life. But I knew he had been waiting at the door quite a while. His arms were crossed over his suit--he had changed into a well-pressed suit and impeccable leather steel-toed shoes, and his frown was deep.

"My apologies for the delay, Hibari-san..."

He pointed to a backpack, the kind that had an established shape. "Will you be able to carry it?" he asked.

I lifted it. It was rather heavy. As if...no...it was true...the steel tonfa were in it. But I was used to the steel boxes for ramen. This would be no big deal.

"Yes." I bowed to him.

"Come."

I followed him out of the shrine, and into a waiting car. Kusakabe-san greeted me from the driver's seat.

Hibari-san dropped a packet of onigiri into my hands as the car drove off.

* * *

April 27

Things got really blurry after I ate that onigiri packet. It was not something in the onigiri...I'm pretty sure I would have tasted it if the onigiri was laced. And would Hibari-san do that? Maybe he would? But would he?

But as I said, things got really blurry. I leaned on his shoulder after I finished the onigiri, and I closed my eyes, and everything went really blank. If I was not blank, I was dreaming. I just knew I had been lifted up, carried somewhere, brought down again, and now I'm dreaming on a bed somewhere.

Either it was dark for a long time, or he was smiling at me, for a long time. I wanted to ask what was going on, but everytime I tried, I heard a gentle voice above me, telling me to rest, and it would be dark again.

I know I should have been more concerned, more worried. Why did I not know more about my current location and current position? Why did I not know where Hibari-san was, what he was doing? But I just felt so drowsy, I just wanted to keep dreaming.

When I finally woke up without seeing darkness, I saw Maman. Tsuna-nii's mother. She smiled gently at me. Why Maman? I did not know.

"Do you feel better now, I-pin?"

I had always felt alright, for that long time, just very sleepy. What did she mean? And why was she...more like, where was I?

"You're at our house, I-pin dear." She placed a cool cloth over my forehead.

I looked around. It was indeed Tsuna-nii's house, and our old bedroom, the one I had with Lambo and Fuuta-nii. How did I get here?

"That sour one, the one that did not come here so often when you were younger. He came with his tall subordinate. He carried you in. Hibari, correct?"

He did that? But why?

"You still don't know? You really need more rest, little dear. Do you want soup? Or the medicine first?"

I still did not understand, but I took up the small pill and the water she gave me.

"Well, Hibari-san came to the door, said he had received permission from Tsuna to take you here. So he did. You were running a high fever all day yesterday, you know."

Oh. Wait...yesterday? It's another day?

"You just kept sleeping yesterday, I-pin dear. Back to the first question. Do you feel better now?"

"I don't know what to compare it with, Maman. But thank you so much." I reached over and hugged her. I haven't done that in a while.

"You're welcome," Maman said. "The tall one said you were doing everything you can for Hibari-san, you forgot about you."

"You think about that stiffy too much, I already told you that!" another voice said. My best friend.

"Sorry," I told him.

"I walk back and forth to the pharmacy for medicine and forehead packs, and that's all the thanks I get?" he pouted with dancing eyes.

"Of course, thank you, stupid cow. Thank you."

He stood up and placed his hands on his waist. "Never forget. I have a ten-year start from anyone, ANYONE! Anyone has to go through me first, to get to you."

"But where is Hibari-san?" I asked.

He sighed. "Always, ALWAYS, it's that stiffy." He shook his head. "Whatever. Kusakabe's been calling here every two hours. Stiffy's at the shrine. Tsuna already came over to see you."

Hibari-san did all that for me. Lambo did all that for me. For me? Who was I? A nobody from Hong Kong who could kick and fire gyoza-ken. But nothing else. Why?

It made me dizzy. Really dizzy.

Maman settled me back onto the bed. "I'll come back with the soup. Go rest."

He went with her. "I'll be back, too! Let's play cards later!"

I smiled. Same little boy I always knew. Exactly why he will always be my best friend.

But not the man in my dreams. The dreams I returned to.

* * *

Thanks for still reading. The next update after this will be a while, and will first be at the blog, because I'll still be thinking. For now, thank you. Go review and give suggestions.


	8. April 28

Thank you for still reading. This is two of the last three blogposts. Not mine, they are, as usual.

* * *

April 28

The medicine, the soup, and the sleep have done good things to me over the night. I still could not believe that taking care of Hibari-san would make me sick, literally, but it has happened.

And yet I could not help but ask how he was, when I woke up.

"I haven't heard anything from Tsuna, if that's what you're asking," my best friend said. "Hey, no news is good news, isn't it? Especially with that guy."

Not quite, I wanted to tell him, but that would confuse Lambo.

Life was simple to my best friend, even when everything goes crazy around him. I guess that was how he made sense of it. But sometimes, it was wonderful to have that, to know that maybe life could really have easy answers. And if it doesn't, you can cry.

He skipped school, again, just to be around me that morning. He did that many times, of course, that it was not an event. He chatted about the other Vongola guardians. Sasagawa-san was still out of the country. They were not sure where Chrome-san was. The local fights were controlled between Hayato-nii and Takeshi-nii.

"So what are you supposed to be doing?" I asked him.

"Stay out of Ahou-dera's way, as usual," Lambo placed his hands behind his curly head. "Deal with whatever my five-year-old self is dealing with, as usual. But I gotta admit that it's nice to see Tsuna and Ahou-dera in their younger selves once in a while. Back when Tsuna wasn't so, well, worried about the world."

I nodded. I liked seeing Tsuna-nii from back then, too, even if the jumps in between deliveries still confused me.

..............

Lunch came around, and still no word from Kusakabe-san, Hibari-san, or Tsuna-nii.

"I'm getting worried, aren't you?" I asked my friend. Especially since Kusakabe-san kept calling yesterday, according to Lambo.

"Nah, they're fine. I think. Maybe." He scratched his head.

I looked out the window.

And saw Hibird flying in.

"Lambo, call Ahou-de...I mean, call Hayato-nii," I said. My head still swam, but I crawled out from under the blanket and reached out for Hibird as he landed on the windowsill.

"You can understand bird-speak?" Lambo asked.

"No, silly!" I whacked him gently with the pillow. "Just call, will you?"

The yellow bird fluttered and chirped frantically on my shoulder while my friend called. The bird did not stop chirping and flapping his little wings.

Lambo ended the call and sighed. "Yeah, I-pin, no word from the independent research team."

I got out of bed and dragged myself to the closet. I had to get dressed. I had to do something. Something had happened to Hibari-san again.

"Does this mean I go tell Maman and go get the bike?" Lambo shut one eye and rubbed at his hair.

I nodded as I braided my hair.

"You don't need to go!"

"I want to," I said as I washed my face. My legs still felt heavy. I was in no condition to fight yet.

"Can't I talk you out of it?" he asked again.

I shook my head.

I stepped out the bedroom ahead of him and slowly made my way downstairs.

.....................

I did not have a lot of gyoza-ken on me, and my arms and legs were still rather heavy. At least Lambo was with me, he could do the fighting for the two of us while I throw the gyoza-ken. To his credit, he pedaled as fast as he could to the shrine.

We both sighed as we reached the bottom of the staircase leading up to the shrine. I answered his unspoken question and trudged up the steps myself. With a nod, I let him run up ahead of me.

Takeshi-nii's people had also arrived, running up the shrine and surrounding the area as well. I think I saw Takeshi-nii, too, from a far end.

Hibird chirped anxiously on my shoulder.

I arrived there to the sound of gunshots and feet through grass in the distance. Takeshi-nii's people surrounded the perimeter of the shrine. A few more shots were heard overhead. I heard the whoosh of flying box weapons, too, but flying away.

"I'm alright, I'm alright!"

Kusakabe-san stumbled out of the main entrance. He tripped as he stepped to the porch. His face was bruised, his pompous hair was tangled, his suit was dirty. But he smiled at us.

I saw Takeshi-nii's piercing eyes and his silent signals, pointing this way and that. Several soldiers ran left and right at his command.

"I-pin-chan!" Kusakabe-san righted himself. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Shouldn't you be with Hibari-san?" I smiled back at him.

"He told me to come say hello to you," he smiled back.

"He knew I was coming?"

"He sent Hibird to you." He motioned for me to follow him. He led me inside.

The worship hall was filled with unconscious foot soldiers in white uniforms. Guns and weapons of various kinds strewed the polished wooden floor.

And at the far end of the hall, leaned on the wall, Hibari-san sat in his kimono, his tonfa in his hands, pale and panting, sweaty all over.

He could barely stand, yet he fought all those soldiers I walked through just now?

"Welcome back," he said.

The English proverb is right.

You cannot teach an old dog new tricks.

I bowed to him. "I'll stay here tonight, Hibari-san," I promised. "I'll tell Lambo to tell Maman."

"Good. Good."

He fainted after that.

So my services are still needed, it seems.

I'm sorry, my best friend, but he needs me.

………………………….

"You're a crazy fancy-kicking Chinese girl!" my best friend shouted into my ear. "You're plumb crazy!"

I shushed him as well as I could. It helped that we were outside, but still. Who knows what Hibari-san could do.

"Come on, I-pin!" he whispered loudly. "You gotta go home with me--with us! Back to Maman! You're still sick!"

"I'm much better, I promise, Lambo. Just a little more rest. I'll be as good as new."

"But, but, I-pin!"

"Maa...maa..." Takeshi-nii grinned at us both as he too whispered. "Although, I-pin-chan, are you sure about this? It's just money, you know."

"It is also Hibari-san," I bowed to him.

"Seriously, this crush thing you have has gone too far, much too far!" Lambo pulled at his hair.

"Maa...maa..." He sighed deeply before smiling at both of us. "Lambo, be a good boy and get her medicines from Tsuna's house, alright?"

"I am NOT a boy, Yamamoto!" my friend snarled.

Takeshi-nii placed the back of his hand over my forehead. "And I-pin-chan, promise me and Tsuna that you'll rest a lot first. Although, I suspect you're about as stubborn as that guy." Takeshi-nii thumbed toward the inside of the shrine, where emergency personnel looked over Hibari-san, still fainted.

"Well, then, kids. I'll be going. I'll talk to Gokudera. We'll keep a few people here tonight, so rest all you need. Take care of yourselves, alright?" Takeshi-nii patted our heads.

I bowed to him again. "Thank you for coming. Thank Hayato-nii for me, too."

"Anytime," Takeshi-nii grinned. "You're family. So's he. The loner big brother. But he's family."

...........................

Kusakabe-san brought my futon over to Hibari-san's room for the night. Beside it he lay out the fever medicine from Maman, a glass, a small flask of water, and a box of forehead-cooling packs. I was near one wall. Hibari-san was at the other.

I slept with the scent of cherry blossoms wafting all around me. The trees were in full bloom now, and the shrine now had pink trees. It was probably terrible to Hibari-san, though.

Speaking of Hibari-san, someone with his...I never really found out if it was aftershave or cologne...his scent came close to me. Heavy hands took off the pack on my forehead and placed another one. Then that scent stayed beside me for a while. The aura was his, too.

I opened my eyes. It was already midnight by then. Moonlight showed me his face. I managed a weak smile.

His mouth stayed in a straight line. He showed me the thermometer reading. 37.5 degrees Celsius.

I pointed to the fever medicine and the water. Slowly he reached out for it and handed them to me. I slowly sat up and did the rest, popped the pill in and drank in a little water. Then I settled back into bed.

He frowned.

"Oh, I'll be fine by tomorrow, Hibari-san. Go back to sleep," I assured him.

The frown deepened.

That was odd. "What is the matter, Hibari-san?"

He sighed. He did not look angry, just worried, I guess. "I need practice. With those movements of yours."

"I can watch you tomorrow, no problem," I promised.

He clenched one fist. "I do not have much time," he said. "They are coming. I have to face them when they come."

"Who?"

"Them."

I wish he could be less mysterious with his words, especially in the middle of the night.

"I have to exceed any single one of them, and all of them, when they come. I cannot train them otherwise. Right now..." he shook his head.

"Who?" I asked again.

"Sawada. Gokudera. Yamamoto. Possibly Sasagawa."

Tsuna-nii, Hayato-nii, Takeshi-nii? Huh? Why did he have to train for them? He could beat any of them easily right now...

Wait. Not exactly right now. Now I somewhat understood. He needed to get stronger, as soon as he could. He needed to get back to normal form as soon as possible, without having to call in the Cavallone branch. With the attacks coming more and more often, he needed to get his strength and power back up soon.

He was asking for a sparring partner.

"Are you alright that I'm a girl, though?" I asked. Most men had a problem with that.

He nodded once. "Will four days be enough?" he asked.

"Tomorrow I can watch you practice. The day after tomorrow I could spar with you. Will that be agreeable?"

"Four days. Will four days be enough?"

I had absolutely no idea if it was too little or just right. I only knew what I had been taught, and my master had taught me over several years.

But I reached out for his hand and held it. "We can try."

In the moonlight, I saw his mouth curve up to a small smile.

* * *

Thanks for the nice reviews. See you again after some time.


	9. April 29

Hello, I'm back. Not mine, but thank you for still reading. Hopefully this whole story will be done by the end of December.

* * *

April 29

I woke up rather late in the morning, with Hibird chirping at the window. I felt lighter and better than yesterday...but I still would not be able to spar with anyone, much less Hibari-san. I could probably move around, though. I wondered what I could do.

Beside the futon, there was a tray with a covered bowl and a glass of water.

Congee. Wow. Good congee, too, even if it was a little cold by now. With shrimp. This came from...this came from my restaurant! I knew that taste. It was my favorite kind. I have to thank him for it later.

I hobbled on to the kitchen and put a pot of water to boil. I heard the clang of steel onto the wooden floor of the welcoming area several times since I got to the kitchen. Now...where did he keep those apples again...

I found him sprawled on the floor, gasping for breath.

"You're late," he panted.

I knelt beside him and bowed. "I am sorry, Hibari-san. I overslept." I presented some cold water from the refrigerator.

He sat up and took up the glass, downed the water in one long drink. He gave back the glass. "Xie xie."

"I have green tea and apples, too," I pointed to the corner where I left the tray.

"Hm." But he stood and walked toward the tray. He reached down and put a slice of apple into his mouth.

"Um...Hibari-san?"

"Hm?" He kept munching.

"Thank you for the congee this morning."

"M-hm."

He sat down and leaned on the wall. He closed his eyes for a while as he breathed deeply, in and out.

"More water, Hibari-san?"

He shook his head.

"Four days. Four days," he mumbled as he breathed in and out. "It's impossible." He was still pale, and sweat still filled his forehead.

I still did not know what the four days was about, what it meant to the emergency plans, what it meant to Tsuna-nii. But they felt important, and vital.

I bowed to him.

"Respectfully, Hibari-san, but it is my understanding that among the seven of you, you do the impossible."

He suddenly opened his eyes and stared at me.

"I understand that you do what they cannot do." I was not sure where I was going with this, but I had heard the stories, since I was a little girl, about the legendary skills of Hibari Kyouya.

He kept staring.

"Tsuna-nii believes, and so do I."

His mouth straightened to a line. "Hm."

He rubbed a sleeve across his forehead. He stood, and took up his tonfa again. Then he walked back to the center of the practice area, the tonfa in his arms.

"I-pin."

It was serious and deep, how he said my name. A sharp contrast to my master's melodic way of saying it. But his way felt solid and secure, as he was.

"Yasai itame. There are new vegetables in the pantry."

I thought for a while. Oh, yes, Maman taught me how to make that. Stir-fry. Not too hard. I could cook that for lunch. "Alright, Hibari-san."

………………

He was quieter than usual that afternoon, if that is actually possible. He kept to himself, always thinking, always worrying. He ate the stir-fry vegetables and rice hurriedly, done in about five minutes.

"Please slow down, Hibari-san! You just ate!" I called out as he stood from the table and walked to the practice area.

But I quickly heard the clanging of his tonfa hitting the wood. I collected the dishes and placed them on the sink. Then getting a flask of water, I headed to the practice area.

He angrily, almost desperately, whacked at the center column. He increased the speed, increased the force, increased both. Left right left right upswing downswing diagonal swipe midswing change swipe. He was fast, and strong. And yet he was losing his fight against the wood, sooner than he wanted.

He threw the tonfa to the floor and panted.

"Damn it."

He took several deep breaths then picked up the tonfa again. He gripped them with ferocity. He began whacking at the column again. Up down up down, circles, diagonals, left right left right. Fast, but uncoordinated and reckless.

He threw down the tonfa again.

"Too weak. Dammit."

He punched his forehead and picked up the tonfa once more.

More desperate whacking and knocking. He scarred the center column with his blows. But the blows were still not as fluid as I saw them before.

It was frightening to watch him. A caged animal clawing at his bars.

I walked slowly to the center of the practice area. Sudden movements scare angry caged animals. I tried to approach and not frighten the caged bird.

I stepped into the range of his arms and legs.

"Hibari-san."

"What." He snarled at me.

"Stop. Please stop."

He actually stood straight and placed his arms to his sides. He scowled.

"Please calm down."

He glared at me.

"You do not need to prove yourself to Tsuna-nii. He knows that you are strong."

"Hm."

"He also knows that you are a man. A man with moments of strength and weakness."

"Hmph."

I bowed to him. I sat cross-legged before him, and gestured for him to do the same. He needed rest, whether he cared to admit it or not. Meditation, at least, would be a systematic kind of rest for him. I cupped my hands together and closed my eyes.

I heard him sit down in front of me.

I spoke with my eyes closed. "Release all the energy you have maintained inside you. Remove the uncertainties, the fears, the concerns that weaken you. Breathe in and breath out, slowly."

That was the only guidance I gave. I did not know what words and thoughts he normally used, so I preferred that he did that on his own. I had my own favorite set of meditation sequences, taught to me as a little girl by my master. They made me remember his reassuring voice and smile, and his own calm.

But I sensed Hibari-san's breathing slowing and calming, so that was good. I heard a lot of sighing, heavy and long, before I heard the controlled breathing we both were taught to do during meditation.

If only I knew what worried him so. If only I could help him more. But I could not. His problem was his own, and I could only tell him that he was not alone.

I released all my worries as well. The whereabouts of my master. The ongoing battles. The safety of Tsuna-nii, Lambo, my boss, Hayato-nii, Takeshi-nii, everyone else, even Kawahira-san who always orders the ramen. My concerns if Lambo will ever understand why I choose to be here. If Hibari-san would ever...would ever notice me. I released them all. Sent them all to higher powers. And I knew that somehow, some way, it would all turn out alright in the end.

I prayed the same for whatever tormented Hibari-san. I prayed for calm to him, prayed hard for that.

I opened my eyes. I had kept them closed for quite a while. The sky had turned darker orange by then.

His eyes were still closed. Or shut. His head bobbed.

I wished him a good nap as I stood up and headed to the kitchen.

There were still plenty of vegetables left over from lunch. Ramen. Ramen should be a good finish to a long day.

* * *

Again, thank you so much for reading. See you later.


	10. April 30

My apologies for not updating this version of the story sooner. I will now be dumping the last few chapters in the blog.

Thank you for all the kind reviews you have left for this litte story.

* * *

April 30

I woke up earlier today, when Hibird began chirping at the sunrise, trying to compensate for my lateness yesterday. But I found that I woke up earlier than he did. Much earlier.

I had completed two whole cycles of all the tai chi positions, and still he had not appeared. I practiced my other moves -- after all, I had been sick a few days and I needed to regain my own strength -- first slowly, then gradually moving up to my regular speeds. Still he did not appear. I could not even feel his movements in the kitchen.

I headed to the bedroom for a peek, in case there was something wrong. He may be sick now like I was, and he was just simply not complaining. So I gently slid the screen door open, making the least noise I could.

I found him awake already, thankfully, and not in bed. But what I saw made me stop thinking, stop moving, even stop breathing.

His arms, tight and sinewy and powerful. His back, strong and centered, lined with long, intersecting, criss-crossing scars from battles long ago. He turned and I saw the thin but beautiful frame, I...I...have no words left for his chest, his torso, the old scars and wounds in both...I should not stare so much, admire his physique so much, watch the straight dark hair that circled his head, tousled and uncombed as it was right now. I really should stop watching and pay more attention to the fact that he was coming up nearer to me, pay more attention to all of him...

...and the frowning face that came up to the door.

"What is it?"

It is handsome, and strong, and wonderful, and beautiful, and dependable, and trustworthy, and I am really running out of adjectives.

"Something wrong?"

It is so wrong what I am feeling right now...I am too young for a man like you. I should not be staring at you, wondering what it would be like to see it forever in my dreams and my realities. It is so wrong. Master, oh, master, it is so wrong, and yet, and yet...

I had to say it, I had to say it, I don't know why, but I had to say it.

"I want to be with you. Forever."

I am so stupid, why did I just say that? I had no right to say it. This was a temporary arrangement, one I had dreamed of most of my life, but still, a temporary situation. It could not happen, should not happen.

And yet he did not back away, he did not frown or fume or growl. He stood there in front of me, so close I could see the chest rise and fall as he breathed.

"I am sorry," he finally said. "It is impossible, what you want."

I knew it.

"No, not as you think. But it is impossible."

................

He said nothing more about that moment, and I was too embarrassed to say anything more, even in apology.

He practiced alone, more smoothly than yesterday, but still not as perfect as he used to. I watched from behind closed screen doors, too embarrassed to be in the room with him. I left the tray of apples and green tea by the door then went away.

He even ate his meals alone that day. Rather, I was still too embarrassed to join him.

That evening after my own solitary dinner in the kitchen, Kusakabe-san came up to me.

"I'll be going now, but the chairman wants to see you in the welcoming area."

"Alright," I said and placed the dishes in the sink.

"Um, I-pin-chan?"

"Yes?"

"He has sake out. Why does he have sake out? What happened today?" he gently asked.

"I...um...I saw him undressed this morning," I admitted with red cheeks. "I...said a few things."

"I see," Kusakabe smiled kindly at me. "It's not my business, I suppose. But I do have to warn you that he's not very good with alcohol. He always takes just enough to be polite."

I nodded that I understood.

"Don't worry about him being disrespectful, even with sake in front of him. He's not that kind of man. Just don't be surprised if he suddenly falls asleep, alright?"

I thanked him for the warning and headed to where Hibari-san waited.

I found Hibari-san seated before a small tea table, now wearing his yukata. He watched the pink cherry blossoms blow in the evening winds.

"Sit down," he said.

I kneeled in front of him, on the opposite side of the small table. A tall bottle of sake and a wooden cup was before him.

I bowed deeply. "I am deeply, terribly sorry for this morning. I'll go away if you want. You won't have to see me again, if you don't want to. You...you don't have to feel the same way. It's just me, it's just me, and I'm sorry for saying that."

He raised a hand and shook his head.

"Finish the last three days. Then you will go."

It was fair enough. I bowed deeply again. "As you wish."

I rose to leave, but he raised a hand again, and motioned for me to sit again, so I did. But he said nothing after that.

He opened the bottle and poured out a cupful of the sake. He sipped this quietly but quickly, glancing at me at the corner of his eyes. Then he lowered the cup, and filled it once more. He took this up as well and finished it in a single long drink.

"Hibari-san, please...please slow down..." I meekly but worriedly said.

But he filled the cup one more time, and drank the sake down quickly. Only then did he lower the cup onto the table and kept it there. He spoke.

"What I will tell you now will remain confidential. You will not tell anyone what I will tell you. Not even Sawada. He will not know that I told you."

I knew the sake was getting to him, but I was not in the position to refuse him anything at the moment. I gave my promise.

He poured another cup of sake and drank it down before speaking again.

"What you said this morning is impossible, not because I do not want it to be so..."

What? Surely it's just the sake, it's just the sake!

"Rather, I cannot give you what you ask. It is unfortunately part of Sawada's plans for the organization. To agree to you will disrupt his plans, the emergency plans that will save the organization. I am not in the position to say no to them at the moment. It is impossible, but because of Sawada. Not because I do not want it."

The emergency plans? What did the emergency plans have to do with that? And wait...he did not like the idea either?

"Allow me to explain."

He poured out another cup and finished it. His cheeks were now warmer than they were earlier, his eyes were still sharp but wandered.

"There is a proposal to bring your self from the past to this present. You, that friend of yours, Sawada, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Sasagawa, the girl with the eyepatch, several other people. Myself finally."

Aside from the fact that now it involved others besides me and Lambo, I did not see what was wrong with that, if it was absolutely necessary.

"The proposal is to bring your younger self in, and to keep her here. As long as necessary. It will be a stay of more than a month at best estimate."

I would switch, semi-permanently. I would...I would not see him. But surely, his younger self?

"Your present self, you, as well as the others and myself...The proposal is that we would be confined in an enclosed space, inaccessible in this present, but not switched with the past. Do you understand? It is hard to explain."

Indeed, especially if he began to drawl as he now did. I did not understand what he said.

"Never mind. The point is this. You will switch with your younger self. Your younger self has no business staying with me. Her place is to be with the thunder guardian. Once you are relieved of your duties here, you have to stay with your friend the thunder guardian. Once the emergency plans take effect, and I do not know when this will be, you must be with that boy. You have no business being with me. And where you will be...I have no business being there. Do you understand at least this?"

In short, for the switch to have no problems, I had to stay with Lambo at all times. And...if I understood correctly...I would be switched before Hibari-san was ever switched. I could not be with him. He could not be with me.

"Do you understand?" his voice was rather desperate, drawn out. "It is impossible, what you ask. It is Sawada's doing. It is impossible."

He poured out another cup of sake. By now the bottle was a quarter emptied. His eyes began to redden now.

"I am sorry. What you ask is not mine to give. Not yet."

Not...yet?

"Wait for the right moment. When the time is right, when all is well, when these battles are over...I will do what is right by you. But wait until then. Please wait until then."

How much of this was him, how much of it was the alcohol? He remained surprisingly firmly seated, and did not sway. But what he was saying concerned me.

"The arrangement you want...the arrangement you want...it's...it's..." He took another long sip then took a deep breath. "It is a good arrangement. Indeed. Do not misunderstand. I do agree to your arrangement. Aiya, I am no longer making sense. I am sorry. How many cups is it now?"

Too many, Hibari-san. Too many.

"But, you do understand, yes? Please wait. Promise that you will wait."

But how much worth will a promise to a drunk man stand? Will he remember what I say? Or does he expect me to remember, to tell him later?

"It is likely too sudden, and, after all, it is too much sake by now. But, it is a promise I will remember, and when it is all over, I shall say this properly, and when sober. It will be as you wish, someday."

He was so sincere, despite being so drunk, I could not help but smile, and take him at his word. "Yes. I will wait. Thank you."

"Good. It is good." He poured yet another glass. "Oh...one more..."

His hands shook as he took up that glass of sake to his lips. He was clearly at his limit. He shakily lowered the cup back to the table.

"I must thank you properly for all you have done. I have probably not thanked you enough. I am sorry. Thank you. Thank you."

He did not have thank me any more than he already has. Being with him, knowing that he appreciated it, it had been enough.

"I have said much. I am sorry for troubling you. Finally, I am sorry, but I have to sleep now. Good night, I-pin. Goodnight."

He placed an elbow to the table, and leaned his head on his hand. His eyes closed. That was all.

I got a futon and a blanket from his bedroom and laid them there at the welcoming area for him. It did my best to lay him down. He gently snored as I tucked him in.

Yes, Hibari-san. I will wait. I will wait as long as I have to. I will wait until the end of time if I need to. But I will wait for you.

Because I want to be with you. Forever.

* * *

I apologize for being so one-liney. Thanks for reading.


	11. May 1

Thank you again for still reading. This story will be winding down with the next chapter.

Again, only this story is mine, not the characters.

* * *

May 1

I was not able to sleep well last night. I kept going through everything he said. About the emergency plans. About having to stay with Lambo for the greater good. About not being with him, for the greater good. About him asking me to wait. I kept thinking over yesterday's events...seeing him, that physique, those arms, and him saying all that to me. I woke up earlier than I should have been awake, and drowsily headed to the kitchen for some early morning tea.

I had finished my first cup of tea when Hibari-san dragged himself into the kitchen, still wearing the yukata from last night. He almost sleepwalked in, his eyes mostly closed as he walked to the table opposite from me and sat down. He immediately held his head and groaned.

"Good morning," I greeted.

He growled in reply.

"I just woke up, so I don't have breakfast yet, I'm sorry. I'm also sorry, but I don't know what to do about hangovers."

He yawned and frowned.

"Would curry be alright for breakfast?" I asked.

He nodded silently. He winced and held his head tightly. I placed the pot of green tea and a cup in front of him, as I stood up to make breakfast.

I really wished I could be more helpful about that hangover. After all, I was partly the reason for it. At least I could do a good job with breakfast. I worked as quickly as the food would let me, chopping potatoes and carrots as quietly as I conceivably could. He checked through the news and listened to voice messages as I cooked.

The curry was done in time with the rice, and I sat again on the kitchen table facing him. He ate slowly and growled the whole time as he winced. I really wished I could do something about the hangover headache. But my own head was spinning slightly from the lack of decent sleep, so I ate quietly myself, still making sense of everything he said last night, wondering if he remembered what he told me.

He lowered the rice bowl and chopsticks and faced me. "Get dressed after breakfast."

I was almost done with breakfast myself. "Where are we going?"

"Practice. Wider field."

"Oh. Alright. Do you need me to bring anything particular?"

"No." He stood up with a yawn and walked off to the hall toward his room.

I still took out a flask for the tea and two apples.

* * *

Once again I tried to dress as quickly as I could, but he was still faster than I was, already waiting at the door in his casual suit and good shoes. Which was odd because I was always complimented in school by how fast I dressed.

"Come," he said and walked through the hall.

For a reason I could not understand, he walked straight into the kitchen. Well, since he went there, I retrieved the flask and the apples and placed them in a paper bag.

He gestured for me to follow, as he gently pushed the refrigerator sideways, revealing a small passage. The passage Tsuna-nii used when he came over some time ago.

With us both safely in the passage, he slid the door back in its place and plunged us in darkness, except for small lights at regular intervals. Hibari-san led the way through the cramped but airy passage.

"You haven't been through here before," he noted as his Italian leathers clip-clopped and echoed.

I shook my head. "I came through the paths Takeshi-nii or Lambo took."

"Very long paths," he grumbled.

He was right to complain. In a few short minutes of walking we had already reached a cloud-flame-controlled gate, and I could see the hall to the reception areas of the underground base just beyond the gate. He pressed on a few buttons and placed his ring onto a display. It temporarily removed the barriers, and we passed through.

I was still awed by the underground base, no matter that I have been there a few times. Tsuna-nii was so incredible to have completed it so quickly and yet so well.

Hibari-san did not pass through the reception room or the main hall. Instead he walked to a secondary hall and headed to an elevator. I followed after him without a word.

We got off the elevator after two levels. He turned and entered the first door we saw in the hall.

"Hibari."

We both turned and saw a young woman in a long tattered cloak, with large red-crystal goggles on her forehead. I bowed to her, my hands in my master's way of greeting, a fisted hand inside an open one. You always give high respect to the seven who are like myself, for they are the strongest, so my master always told me.

"Fon's apprentice with Fon's ghost. Interesting," she greeted us. She was filled with scars and bruises and soot.

"Lal Mirch. You have been outside again," Hibari-san frowned at her.

"I can't sit still, alright? Not when, not when..."

"That is not verified for all of them."

"So you mean...what about..." her voice trailed off as she looked at me.

"No new information," he said, without looking at me.

I lowered my head. Despite his best efforts, there was still no word about the whereabouts and status of my master. I sighed.

"I am not here to talk about him," he added. "I want to run a simulation."

"Are you out of your mind?" Lal-san said. "You just came from an attack at the shrine, you're not..."

"I want to run a simulation," he repeated sternly.

"Why can't you have a personality like her master your mirror image?" she sighed. "Which one?"

"B14325."

"Again?"

"Run it."

"Don't tell me, tell Bianchi!"

"Tell her, then."

"Please, could you do this, Lal Mirch-san?" I begged on his behalf.

"It's good to see your master's personality rubbed off on you," she said. "Fine. Because you asked nicely." She pressed on a receiver at the wall. "Bianchi? We're at level 3, could you run B14325 for Hibari?...Alright." She turned around and walked away with a harrumph.

"Thank you!" I called out after her.

Hibari-san opened the door. This opened to a very large room with a very high ceiling. It was larger than two basketball courts and had a higher roof.

"Get out of the room," he told me.

"But, but, Hibari-san!"

"It's a simulation. It's dangerous. Get out." He armed, one tonfa in each hand.

"But, Hibari-san..."

He glared his small eyes at me and frowned his deepest frown. He placed his tonfa in front of him, ready to strike.

I backed away and let the door slide closed.

I was in the hall. I heard the sounds of his steel tonfa clanging against large objects, repeatedly, desperately, as I heard them in the previous days.

"So like Fon, and yet so unlike him," I heard Lal-san sigh beside me. "Both of them stubborn as hell. Both of them hard to ignore, impossible to forget."

I bowed to her again.

"I like your master, what little I've seen of him," she said.

"Thank you, oh strong one."

"Don't call me strong," she sighed. "I don't care if I'm one of the strongest. I couldn't stop Millefiore from killing them. I'm as weak as everyone else."

I did not have any words for that.

"But I will fight until my last breath for those they have killed. They may kill us all, but they will not take us. They will not win. I swear it."

So do I.

...............

I stood behind Bianchi and watched. I gripped the back of her chair, trying to keep my hands from shaking.

Hibari-san stood in the middle of the practice area, surrounded by more than a hundred heavily-armed Millefiore soldiers in black and white uniforms. Flame throwers, snipers, rifles, grenades, and weapon boxes of all types came for him from all directions. He was out of his mind! Using close-range, direct-attack weapons that were his tonfa, against long-range weapons! He did not even bring out his own weapon boxes out. He just attacked all who came near, and charged those who did not.

He was hit everywhere by everything, and I could do nothing but watch. "Make it stop already, nee-san, make it stop," I begged Bianchi.

"I can't," Bianchi spoke softly back. "Hibari told me not to stop the simulation for any reason."

"But he's getting injured!"

"He's a glutton for punishment, what can I say," Bianchi shrugged.

But a voice behind us made us both turn our heads.

"Stop the simulation."

Tsuna-nii walked up to the microphone in front of Bianchi.

"Stop it, Hibari-san. I need to talk to you. Meet me at the strategy room."

Bianchi reluctantly but gladly stopped all parts of the simulation. The room below us was bathed in light, and Hibari-san stood alone in the center. I breathed a sigh of relief. Despite all the red welts and new scars, he was still standing.

I chatted with Bianchi-nee for a while as she waited for a printout of the simulation results, and closed down the simulation room. The pressure on the organization was obvious in her eyes. She talked to me about Hayato-nii, how worried she was for him every time the group went out to meet anyone or to fight anyone. She did not talk about Reborn-san. Just Hayato-nii.

We parted ways as she headed on to the kitchen to meet with Fuuta-nii. I headed to the strategy room, to wait for Hibari-san.

I distinctly heard his voice past the door.

"Get rid of her. I do not want to see her."

The ice in his voice stopped me dead. I paled.

"You're being just a bit too harsh, Hibari-san..." I heard Tsuna-nii say.

"She will disrupt your stupid emergency plans."

"I-pin's not like that!" Tsuna-nii pleaded.

"She ruins my concentration."

"But she also cooks for you, and helps you out, doesn't she?"

"I don't care about the food. Get rid of her."

"But, Hibari-san!"

"Get rid of her."

I did not want to hear more. I walked away from the strategy room, and headed to the exit I did know about. I did not talk to anyone, I did not look back. I feared that if I stopped, I would cry.

So everything before was just an act? He was just being nice? He did not mean any of it? He did not mean what he said last night? He did not...he did not like me at all? He just wanted to get rid of me, the soonest time possible? Why did he wait for so long? Why did he not say anything?

So what did all those words of thanks mean? What did all those small thoughtful gestures mean? What did it mean, his actions when I got sick all of a sudden? What did they all mean?

I kept walking through the familiar streets, without money, without stopping for anyone, without calling out to everyone. I walked and walked, through the shopping street, through the supermarket, through the houses and lanes.

His words pounded into my head as my feet stepped without thinking. He wants to get rid of me. He does not care about me. He just wants me gone. I have been wishing for something I could never have, dreaming about something a tipsy man told me. The sober one would not have me. He wants me gone.

I headed straight for home. Not my lonely apartment, not the ramen house. I went straight to Tsuna-nii's house.

My best friend opened the door. I did not have to say anything. He knew me too well.

"I-pin! What's wrong?"

I did not wait until we were inside. I wanted to stop being a strong person at last, to stop holding back tears. I could not tell him about what happened, I just could not. But I needed his warmth, his presence, telling me at least some of those words were not true.

I wrapped my arms around him and began to sob into his cow-print shirt.

.............

Maman placed a glass of orange juice and a bowl of instant noodles (comfort food from when I was little--don't ask) in front of me. My best friend sat beside me, with his own orange juice and noodles in front of him. Maman knew very well that we were different people, but out of habit we were given snacks and meals as a unit. It still happened, especially when one or the other or both were sulking about something.

I slurped without saying a word, welcoming the warm feelings of home, trying to forget those words as I ate the salty noodles.

"He did it. I knew it." He angrily punched his hand into the other. "Don't deny it."

I sniffed and nodded.

Maman gently leaned forward. "Did he hurt you, dear?"

I shook my head. He did not hurt me physically, that was true.

"Did he say something to you?"

I shook my head. He did not tell me that. He told Tsuna-nii.

"But it's obvious something happened," Lambo punched the table. "He's gonna get it. I don't care if he's all that. He's gonna get it."

The telephone rang. Not any of our mobiles, but the old telephone. Maman kept it, and Tsuna-nii used it often. My best friend stood up to answer it. We heard his voice in the kitchen.

"Yeah? Yeah, Tsuna, she's here. How DARE you let that stiffy do anything to her--What? Misunderstanding? NO, there is NO misunderstanding. Don't let that stiffy near her ever again!--What? What? Fine. He'll meet my fist."

He slammed the receiver down and returned to the kitchen. He paced the floor, driving fist into palm and snarling.

"No, Lambo, no! You don't stand a chance!"

"I don't care, I-pin!"

"Really, he didn't do anything..."

"So why are you like that? Huh?"

"Really, it's nothing..."

"You really gotta make up your mind." He punched the table and sat down again beside me.

I stared at the soup left in the bowl. the noodles now gone. He was right. I did not know what to feel about him, and I had to make up my mind.

Maman reached out and took up my hand. "I-pin, dear, your heart is yours. But, you are a strong girl, always remember that. Don't settle for a relationship you will be sad in."

I sighed.

"I know you've admired him for a long long time, and he is a good man, but...I-pin...if he's going to hurt you..."

"I know, Maman, thank you," I sighed again.

She came up and gave me a hug. She didn't make me wash the dishes.

The house was quiet that evening, aside from Lambo loudly snarling and swearing against the poor cloud guardian.

"Stop, Lambo, stop. He didn't do anything. Really, he didn't," I told him.

It did not make him stop swearing.

It did not stop me from thinking over what he said to Tsuna-nii, what he said to me, what he did for me. It's what I get for listening to a drunk man, and hoping that what alcohol sometimes says is true.

The night sky was turning light blue of the new day when I finally knew I was not awake.

* * *

It probably reads somewhat different as a long chapter instead of shorter chapters/blog entries, sorry about that. But I hope you still like it this way. Again, thank you for reading.


	12. May 2

This is almost done. Thank you for sticking with it (and all my one-liners).

They're not mine, but this story is.

* * *

May 2

I woke up to the sound of the house doorbell. Not to the doorbell, exactly, but to Lambo's shouting.

"You made her cry! HOW DARE YOU MAKE HER CRY!" A long pause. "I told you! If you ever make her cry..."

I ran downstairs to the front door. I heard the sound of lightning crackling. I heard hard steel hitting flesh. I heard my friend groan and fall.

I heard his voice. Hibari-san.

"Out of the way. I want to talk to her."

"Over my dead body..." my friend groaned.

I saw him raise his tonfa over my friend on the floor.

"NO, Hibari-san, no!" I exclaimed. I reached down over Lambo. "No, please."

To my relief, he stopped and lowered the tonfa. "I want to talk to you," he said again.

Lambo held onto the doorpost and raised himself up to standing. "You don't have to, I-pin, if you don't want to." He raised a fist at Hibari-san.

I raised my eyes and prayed to my master. What do I do now, master?

Maman came up and stood before them, and I saw where Tsuna-nii learned to be a peacemaker. Maman placed a hand on Hibari-san's shoulder, and another on Lambo's shoulder.

"Lambo, dear, it's too early to pick a fight. Hibari-san, come in for some tea, why don't you?"

Hibari-san harumphed, Lambo tossed his head. I was grateful that Maman had calmed them down.

"I-pin, dear, come help me serve them breakfast."

"I am not staying," Hibari-san interrupted. "I-pin, come with me."

"You are NOT taking her anywhere!" Lambo protested and faced me. "You're staying here!"

"Lambo, Hibari-san..." Maman placed hands on their shoulders again. She looked at me. "I-pin, I trust both of them, but it is your choice."

"Come," Hibari-san repeated.

"You're insane!" Lambo told him. "She's not going with you!"

Master, what do I do? What do I do?

"If I may speak for the chairman?"

Hibari-san snarled at Kusakabe-san behind him. "Hmph."

The large pompadour bowed to Maman and to me. I guess he got permission or something. "The chairman apologizes to I-pin for the misunderstanding yesterday. With your permission, he wants to talk to you properly about it. He promises that nothing will happen to her, if that is what is worrying the young man. I will personally guarantee it." Kusakabe-san bowed again.

Maman and Lambo looked at me.

"It's up to you, my dear," she said.

"I'll blast him through any past or present or future if he does anything to you," he shot lightning darts through his eyes. "You will bring her back here."

"Of course, of course," Kusakabe-san answered.

"Come," Hibari-san said again, and this time held out a hand.

His eyes, his face, they were softer than a few minutes ago. There was no menace in him anymore. I felt my cheeks warming. I even felt my forehead warming, threatening to count down then explode.

I bowed to them all. I was still in the pajamas I wore for the night. "Respectfully, I'll go change first."

"But, I-pin!"

"I'll be alright, Lambo," I smiled at him as I went up the stairs. But I was still worried, still nervous.

* * *

He had always been rather pale, but I had seen him much paler in the previous days. He was back to his normal paleness, his normal stoic self. He was back to normal. The normal self that needed no one. Not even me.

He walked beside me, but he kept a few inches away. We were together alone; Kusakabe-san had returned to the shrine. He did not talk to me as we walked, even if he said he wanted to talk. He did not even look my way. I merely followed where he went, through the streets of the town, through the shopping district, through the lanes.

We had been walking for more than hour, just all around Namimori, and still he had not spoken, not a word. We reached the park that way, and he still had not talked. He looked at all the familiar places and streets with a wistful gaze. Sometimes he looked down at me with those same eyes, and still he did not speak.

I did not understand what was going on.

He led on to the far end of the park, where we had a good view of the cherry trees lining the lanes and the river. The trees were no longer pink, the blossoms had fallen to the grass, the winds had blown most of the blossoms aways by now. He sat on the grass and leaned his back onto a tree. He looked up at me, then down to the grass beside him.

I sat down beside, nervous, anxious. He just looked out at the river and the park, watching the people walking hand in hand, watching the people holding hands while having a picnic. If I expected him to follow suit, I was not going to get it, I knew that much about him. So I sat beside him, and just savored the heavy scent of cherry blossoms mingling with the scent of his dusky cologne.

"Are you well, Hibari-san?" I asked. Cherry blossoms gave him headaches, after all.

"Hm," he nodded.

I wrung my hands on my trousers. "I...I...heard you tell Tsuna-nii. You told him to get rid of me. I did not know what to do. I am sorry."

"Ah," he said, then sighed. His gaze was far toward the river.

"I apologize if I have been a nuisance, if I have not been helpful. I'm sorry for whatever you feel I did not do right. I'll make it up to you, somehow."

"You did nothing wrong," he said. "This will be your last day, though."

"I know," I sighed. That much did not change.

He stood up, and offered a hand as I stood up with him.

We walked again. We headed to the middle school.

All Tsuna-nii's guardians had gone on to high school and college over the years. And yet Hibari-san still seemed to like coming back to the local middle school. He was so much the institution that no one stopped him if he ever visited: not guards at the gate, not teachers, not students. I had gone to this school as well and knew my way around it. Even in my time all the students knew the legend of the disciplinary committee chairman who never truly left.

He walked in silence up the stairs of the deserted school, his shoes clip-clopping sternly on the steps. I followed as he opened the steel door to the roofdeck.

He walked up to the wire fencing and leaned on it, as he always did when he was lost in thought. He looked out at the town beyond the school.

"I-pin."

I looked toward him. He still looked out at the world beyond.

"What was said yesterday. I am sorry."

I nodded.

"What was said the other night. Remind me."

I repeated his words then, as best and as accurately as I could remember them. He nodded as I spoke, as he confirmed what he seemed to remember. He nodded one final time as I finished.

"It is why you have to go. It was Sawada's intention to make you stay longer. It is impossible. Any longer, and you would seriously disrupt my concentration."

I did not understand the last sentence.

"My concentration is important to me. You are making me lose it. It is making me weak. That cannot be allowed. Not with things the way they are. That cannot be allowed."

The way I sometimes lost focus thinking of him, the same thing was happening to him. I was probably supposed to be flattered, but I am a trained fighter, and a part of me understood what he was trying to say: I can't stop thinking about you. I can't fight like that.

"I understand." I could not believe how calm I was to say that. "But...Hibari-san..."

"Hm?"

"Love doesn't weaken people. It makes them stronger."

"It makes them biased, unfocused, subjective."

"It makes them more devoted. It makes them strive harder."

"It makes them easier to kill."

"No, Hibari-san, it does not."

"It makes them weak."

"No."

"Prove it."

"Give it time," I told him, and took up his hand.

"That still does not change matters," he sighed. "You still have to leave. You know why."

"But don't let me leave with you angry at me. It is not wrong to love anyone, Hibari-san. It does not weaken you to do so."

He growled and looked away, without taking away his hand inside mine. "You still have to leave. I have to go to Italy. I have to tell CEDEF."

"But you will be back."

"You will be with the thunder guardian. It has already been arranged."

"I know, but you will be back. And we'll see each other again."

"No."

"Why not?"

He gripped my hand like a vice and gritted his teeth. "You ruin my concentration."

"It is a compliment, Hibari-san. It is nothing to be ashamed of. Be at peace, Hibari-san. Close your eyes, Hibari-san, and breathe deeply."

I closed my eyes as well. I was nervous, too, of course, and I desperately needed to calm down. I needed to understand as well what he was truly saying, and what I was saying.

"Breathe in, breathe out...breathe in, breathe out--"

Suddenly I could not breathe at all, as his breaths filled my mouth, as his lips covered mine, as his face was the closest it had ever been in my short life, so close that I could feel his breaths from his nose on me, so close I could sense cologne, aftershave, cherry blossoms, even sweat.

He is kissing me, master. He is kissing me. I don't know what to do, I don't know. I could only kiss him back. I could only keep my eyes closed, scared that if I open them, the dream would suddenly stop, the reality would suddenly end.

I caught my lost breaths as he released me. I finally got enough courage to open my eyes. It was still him, still close to me, his cheeks pink and flustered.

"Xie xie," he said.

I wrapped my arms around him. "Wo ai ni."

* * *

In case: "Wo ai ni" is I love you.

The next chapter is the last one.


	13. Final words

This little story ends here. Thank you for reading this far. I am sorry for suddenly dumping four chapters and ending with them. Thank you for your nice words and reviews. You will be thanked properly at the end of this.

* * *

I went back to the shrine to retrieve my things left there. It was just the bag and my tea set, not much. I hugged Kusakabe-san, thanked him for all the things he did for me while I was there. I got lost in his large bulky self.

He was sorry he could not tell me more about my master, good or bad. The contacts in Hong Kong considered that a good sign, rather than a bad one. I thanked him for going through the trouble, all the same.

I went back to the apartment to put down my things. I sighed. I had to go back to cooking for myself, to being alone in a lonely room.

If I don't sound like someone who had just been kissed, please forgive me.

I honestly did not know how to feel. A kiss would not change things. He still had to leave for Italy, he was not sure when he would be back. I still had to stay where Lambo was, so as not to ruin Tsuna-nii's plans. And when Tsuna-nii's plans come to effect, we would still be separated. I could not be with him, he could not be with me. Worst of all, I did not know how to explain this awkward situation to Lambo, poor Lambo. My best friend, who was a nice boy past all his bluster and all his girl-chasing ways.

I love my best friend, I do. But he is my best friend, my childhood friend. I know him too well, and I remember all the games we played with each other and at each other. I know there are people who marry their childhood friends, but I don't know if I will be one of them. I don't know.

He also knew me too well. It showed when I opened the door to Tsuna-nii's house.

" 'Kuso. You've done it." He sighed, frowned, and bowed his head.

"Sorry." It was all I could say.

He took a deep breath, repeated his "to...le..rate..." sequence for a few times. He raised his head and looked at me with one closed eye. "Can't I change your mind?"

I shook my head.

"Please?"

I shook my head again.

He sighed. "Oh, well. You know where to find me if he makes you cry again. I'll knock him into next week for you." He looked away from me.

I was more worried when he was not blustery. This was one of those times. "Lambo, you're still my best friend."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say," he kept his eyes away from me.

"Nothing will change between us, alright?"

"Of course something will, you idiot," he said, quietly. "Something already did."

"Lambo..."

"And I can't do anything about it."

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry..."

He sighed one last time as he grinned at me. "Wanna lollipop? Maman bought some. I could use one right now."

It was his best answer to life's painful times. "Strawberry, please," I said.

He turned his back to me and faced the hall.

"Lambo. I do love you."

"Just not that way, right?" He did not turn.

"Yes."

"At least that's clear. Now let's be friends and have those lollipops, before I cry in the hall."

My sentiments exactly.

* * *

Life went back to normal, as before the sakura spring began and ended. I went to school. My best friend sometimes went to school and sometimes he didn't. Too often our fighting skills were practiced on the streets in broad daylight or at night. The battles were still going on. Nothing seems to have changed about me.

My friend continues to be my close companion, and yet something has changed. He no longer teases me about being her girlfriend. He no longer tells me about the other girls. Sometimes he goes off alone to eat or walk around (which is why his younger self often switches with just him, and me coming from somewhere else). I know, it should not be that way, but at least we are still friends. He will understand, I hope he does, someday.

I'm working again at the ramen house. Kawahira-san is still hard to find for the deliveries, but he is still easy to please, I am grateful.

It was on one of those days when I got a delivery order to Takeshi-nii's house, of all places. I headed over there with a bowl of our best ramen.

Takeshi-nii was the one who met me. "I've been missing these! Thanks!"

But as he handed me the money from his pocket, I also felt a small piece of paper under all the money. I looked at him, wondering what that was.

He grinned at me. "Tsuna told me to give it to you, to give to someone. You know who."

I did not understand.

"If this works, I'll be having more ramen, and that would be so nice," he smiled. "And it would be better for you, too."

I still did not understand. But Takeshi-nii would not tell me anything more, just grinned his sad grin at me.

I opened the paper, but it was full of gibberish in Japanese, probably some encrypted message. And I did not know the code. Surely a coded message would not be sent to Lambo; Lambo was always directly told what he needed to know. It was the same with me. So who would Tsuna-nii want the message sent to?

When I reached the ramen shop again, I found another delivery waiting for me. This time it was to the shrine. Which was no big deal, despite the stairs one needed to climb, because Kusakabe-san did order from our shop once in a while. Although Kusakabe-san ordering for the seafood-type ramen was rather odd. Maybe he just wanted variety. I headed off to the shrine anyway.

I knocked at the kitchen door as usual when I delivered the noodles, hoping they were still warm after the climb up those steps.

The door opened, and there he stood in his dark kimono and with dark straight hair, smiling at me.

"Ni hao."

I bowed to him with a smile and greeted as well. "Your noodles, sir."

I somehow managed to land the bowl of noodles in the kitchen table, and the piece of paper from Takeshi-nii into his hand.

"Xie xie."

"Na li de hua."

He gave me a small piece of paper. I unfolded it, just to see to whom I should be sending it to, but I found no instructions and no coded messages. Just a rather long message, to me. My cheeks grew red as I took up the delivery box to leave.

"Take care of yourself."

"I ask the same of you."

This was how we saw each other, how we greeted each other, until times could be better. It was not the best arrangement, but for now it would have to suffice.

Soon we could be together, like we were that spring.

FIN

* * *

(I know this is no longer legal, but please don't report me.) Thank you for the reviews: Garowyn, hp23, CloudGuardian18, Yagami Vongola (who even went to the blog to read it), Princess_one99five, Mishimoto Sakura, just-a-web-artist, gracymarei22, and LavanderSkies. I apologize for not replying to you all individually. But I sincerely thank you for all the kind words and the support.

Thank you for reading this little story and for liking it, my first multichap for this fandom.

EK out.


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